Origins: Black Lotus
by PandaBot3000
Summary: After Team Rocket were felled by Red, the world's criminals were scattered. Four of the best found themselves banding together, becoming the most dangerous group in the world. This is their story. Rated for mature themes and language. Chock full of OC's
1. Chapter 1

**Origins: Black Lotus**

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><p><em>Welcome to my newest fic! This one is written to accompany my other fic, Pokemon: Soul of Steel; and anyone who has read that fic will recognise one of the characters in this one.<em>

_This is being written solely by me, without the usual steady hand of my good friend and editor Peppy at the reins, so don't expect the usual quality. For anyone who has not read my other stories...read and enjoy. A review would be nice too._

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><p>Night. The silvery moon partially obscured behind intermittent clouds, lighting the silent streets with an ethereal glow. The light breeze whistling through the empty city, brushing past sparse leaves and discarded trash.<p>

They stood overlooking the disused citadel, the three names whispered only by the few who knew of their existence. Whispered in awe and fear, respect and hatred; Jercho, Astreya and Zashi. They were Black Lotus.

Jericho, tall and thin, exuding an unmistakeble air of authority; his dark eyes swept the city, utterly focused on the job at hand. His long, heavy coat fluttered in the breeze, opening just enough to expose the pokeballs clipped to his belt. A sudden movement to his left drew his attention for a split second, before his focus returned to the tableau before him. He spoke, his dark voice breaking the silence ominously,

"Astreya, must you always do that?". He spoke to the smallest of the group, her short black hair falling across her face as she threw a pokeball up and caught it, rolling it across her fingers and generally fidgeting. She thrummed with energy, grey eyes gleaming as she smiled an oddly disconcerting smile at her leader; despite having the face of a child. She shoved her gloved hands into her pockets and begun quietly humming to herself, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Zashi was standing silently, watching Astreya's antics with a blank expression; although no-one had ever seen any sort of real expression on his face. He had a thin chain wrapped around his hand, absentmindedly clenching and unchenching his fist.

Jericho raised his hand, clutching a walkie talkie, and spoke quietly into it; "Check in". He frowned as he heard only static as his reply; "Hmph. Sounds like she failed". Zashi snorted in disgust at his leader's words, shifting his large frame slightly.

"I told you. She is sloppy" he said in his heavily accented voice. At his gruff response, Astreya pouted, "She seemed pretty good to me" she said liltingly, her voice jarringly cheerful compared to the atmosphere.

"Hmm," Jericho hummed thoughtfully, "She was promising. But, regardless, she appears to have failed. Come, let's go". The group turned away from the city and stopped abruptly; standing silently behind them, her long black hair fanning out down her back, black skin tight clothing blurring her outline. Even looking right at her she was difficult to focus on. Spectra, the girl who was previously known as The Shadow; because that's all people ever usually saw.

"Aw, Jericho. You really think that?" she said smoothly, a smirk across her (and even Zashi could admit this) stunning features. In the split second, that Jericho had seen Spectra and recognised her, he had drawn out a pokeball ready to fight. He relaxed now and slipped his pokeball back onto his belt,

"Why is it still up?" he asked gruffly, annoyed at his lapse. Behind him he heard Astreya's sweet voice mumbling something and Zashi answering in his usual grumble; no doubt money had been won and lost. Spectra stretched, entirely unimpressed with his gruff act,

"It's dangerous, Jericho. If I had just blown it up then the entire city would have exploded. So I set it into meltdown" she said, shrugging. At his raised eyebrows she rolled her eyes, "I stayed until it was irreversable" she said, exasperated.

"Hmph". Jericho nodded to her and drew out a pokeball, releasing his Aerodactyl into the night air. Behind him he heard the muted growl of Zashi's Flygon and the quiet coo of Astreya's Swellow; he motioned to his Aerodactyl at Spectra's questioning look.

"Come on. Let's get out of here" he said, watching, mildly suprised, as Spectra jumped confidently onto Aerodactyl's back. Flygon and Swellow took off, speeding into the night sky, as Jericho turned back just in time to see a large, non-descript building suddenly burst into flames. He smiled darkly and jumped onto Aerodactyl, settling just behind Spectra.

Aerodactyl lifted off the ground with a powerful flap of it's wings and shot into the night sky. The moon was covered by clouds as an explosion tore apart the building, the wail of sirens just beginning to echo over the disused city.

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><p>Jericho, Zashi and Astreya were sat around a large, circular table, the only light in the room coming from the screen set into the wall, displaying a map of the region. The silence stretched eeriely as the trio thought among themselves. Finally Jericho spoke,<p>

"Thoughts?". As always, Astreya jumped in first, throwing out her opinion without any real thought; though this was often her strength, "I think she's great. Hot too" she said, with a leer. Neither of the men reacted, they were too used to her particular brand of behaviour by now.

"I disagree," Zashi spoke up carefully, his rumbling voice suiting his heavy accent perfectly, "She left the mission in the hands of luck and the incompetency of others." Jericho frowned,

"I'm not so sure that's true, although I agree with your intent. She stayed until the process was irreversable and she was invisible in and out. Overall, it was a difficult mission - no hang on," Zashi attempted to interrupt but was silenced, "It was a difficult mission and she managed to complete it in a way that seemed accidental. That takes subtlety and stealth, traits that we are sorely lacking" he spoke commandingly.

Even Zashi had to concede that he had a point, Jericho could be sneaky when he wanted to but he had doubts that any of them could have snuck in to that place at all. Jericho looked around the room noting the looks of acceptance, "Well then. Zashi, you're up" he said.

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><p>Spectra stood confidently, facing the hulking Zashi from across the courtyard. It had been cleared especially for this, her final test, the surrounding barbed wire fence had been put back up; the blinding sun lit the whole scene in a harsh light. Jericho and Astreya were sat on part of a collapsed piece of rubble, Jericho watching closely, Astreya tapping out a rhythm on her knees.<p>

"Choose your pokemon" Zashi rumbled, grasping a pokeball in his hand, the other hand was preoccupied with his customary chain. Spectra smirked as she drew out a pokeball of her own from a small pocket attached to her hip and threw it onto the cleared area between them. Zashi threw his at the same time and a blinding light erupted out from the mock battlefield, petering down into two shapes.

Standing in front of Zashi was a stalwart Venusaur, crouched low and ready for battle; in front of Spectra stood a Charmeleon, its claws spread and the tip of the tail a furious blaze. Jericho nodded in appreciation of Spectra's choice, a well-trained Charmeleon retained the quick feet of a Charmander but gained the physical presence of a Charizard;

"A good choice" he mused, beside him Astreya hummed in agreement, running her tongue along her teeth as she stared at Spectra lustfully. Jericho rolled his eyes at her behaviour and turned his attention back to the stand-off.

Suddenly, with no urging from Spectra, her Charmeleon leapt forward, charging at the Venusaur furiously. "Vine Whip!" Zashi barked; Charmeleon leapt to the side as Venusaur launched two vines at the charging pokemon. Even with Charmeleon's excellent reflexes, the vines barely missed, clearly shaking the confidence of the now wary fire-type; Spectra allowed a slight frown to mar her features, a subtle tightening of the lips accentuating her dismay. After a moment's thought she snapped her fingers twice in quick succession; Charmeleon instantly began to circle the hulking Venusaur warily, staying on its toes.

Jericho watched on with approval; she had clearly trained her Charmeleon to react to a different set of commands then the usual spoken word. _Interesting,_ he thought, _Very interesting_. Zashi, after watching her Charmeleon circle with annoyance, suddenly glared at Spectra,

"Are you planning to attack any time soon?" he growled, frustrated at her seeming lack of enthusiasm. At the exact moment he began to speak, Charmeleon had begun to slink forward, using Venusaur's bulk to hide his movement from the now distracted Zashi. Jericho raised his eyebrows in appreciation of the maneuvre, this Charmeleon suited Spectra's particular style perfectly. Spectra let the silence ring for a moment, allowing Charmeleon time to get into position, before barking out a command,

"Flamethrower!". Zashi, his eyes widening as he realised his error, desperately attempted to spot Spectra's Charmeleon; in this weather any fire based attacks would be much more effective. He glanced around, brain moving into a higher state of awareness, as it often did in the critical moments of a battle.

_No sign of it._

_So it must be underground or on Venusaur's other side._

_Fire-types are weak against water and ground type attacks._

_Excellent._

"Earthquake!" he called as Charmeleon threw its head forward to release a large stream of flame, glowing a deep red in the morning sun. Even with its uncanny speed Venusaur was hit by the attack before it could get it's Earthquake technique away, it gave a roar of pain as the superheated flames broke against its side; a second later it slammed down on the ground, knocking the Charmeleon off balance as the ground rumbled ominously.

As the Charmeleon teetered wildly on the shaking earth, its Flamethrower masterfully interrupted, Zashi and his Venusaur crouched low to the ground. A second later it became clear why as the ground began tearing itself to shreds, throwing Charmeleon around roughly; on the opposite side of the battlefield, Spectra struggled to keep her balance as the ground heaved and rolled under her.

This continued on for just under half a minute, an exceptionally long time for an Earthquake attack, before the ground calmed leaving the battered and bruised Charmeleon lying in the middle of the courtyard. After a moment's silence, during which Spectra silently pleaded her pokemon to rise, the Charmeleon slowly lifted himself off the ground, standing on shaking legs and facing its foe.

Spectra breathed a silent sigh of relief before turning her attention back to the battle; Zashi was already planning on an easy win from here. Narrowing her eyes at his arrogance, she clapped her hands sharply, two claps then a pause followed by a third. Without a glance back, her Charmeleon lunged forward, jaws already beginning to trail flames; Zashi snorted in disgust,

"Again." As Venusaur heaved its front legs off the ground, Charmeleon leapt into the air, leaping high above the ground. As Venusaur slammed into the ground, it twisted in mid-air and slammed a silvery tail onto Venusaur's back; a sharp '_smack_' echoed over the ruined courtyard, closely followed by Venusaur's cry of pain. Regaining its feet awkwardly on the plant-like back of Venusaur it unleashed it's pent-up Flamethrower attack directly onto the back of Venusaur's head.

At Venusaur's screech of agony, Zashi's face hardened even more than usual; _So that's how it ends_, Jericho mused. Nobody challenged Zashi when he got like that. Nobody was that stupid; too late for Spectra. Zashi's eyes flashed as he roared his order viciously,

"Solarbeam!" Under the hot sun, Venusaur's bulb absorbed the necessary energy required for the attack almost instantly, unleashing a massive burst of energy at the unsuspecting Charmeleon planted directly over the bulb. The attack sent Charmeleon soaring through the air, trailing smoke, quite clearly unconcious. Spectra flinched as her Charmeleon slammed heavily into the ground, heavily damaged by the furious attack.

"Enough," Jericho's voice cut through Spectra's slightly stunned silence; Zashi recalled his Venusaur, staring thoughtfully at the pokeball for a quiet second, before slipping it into one of the various pockets on his heavy coat. Spectra walked over to where her Charmeleon lay and knelt down next to its prone form; she lay a hand gently on its head before returning it to its pokeball.

Jericho approached Zashi, motioning for Astreya to follow him; they reached the massive man at almost the same moment. Jericho raised his eyebrows, "Thoughts?"

Astreya giggled, "I thought she did great!" she said happily. Jericho's eyes darkened, "Silence, Astreya" he growled; she needed to learn some form of restraint, preferably soon.

"She is suprisingly good." Jericho was abruptly tugged back to reality by Zashi's rumbling tone, "How so?" he asked, for once curious. Zashi thought for a second, carefully constructing his answer, and spoke again.

"Her battling style suits her. It focuses on stealth and misdirection. Even I was caught off guard. But it's more than that. Her Charmeleon is well-trained, and she can clearly think on her feet. Also, her coded commands are...off-putting."

Jericho nodded, entirely unsurprised that Zashi had seen all that in such a short battle, he was the master after all.

"Excellent. Incidentally, congratulations on the win. It's been a while since I saw you like that" Jericho said, a small smile crossing his face as he looked into the eyes of the giant. Zashi nodded, not allowing any form of expression to cross his face, and raised his eyes to where Spectra stood waiting for the impromptu meeting to end.

Jericho turned, leading the other two members of Black Lotus to where Spectra stood, an impassive expression on her face. The trio silently observed Spectra for a second before Jericho's dark voice broke the silence,

"Well done. You really are worthy."

Spectra frowned in confusion at his words. "But...I lost" she said uncertainly, feeling like she was missing something important; though it was difficult to think with Astreya openly ogling her. Jericho chuckled lightly at her uncertainty,

"We didn't expect you to win. Zashi is a master of battling, it would have taken all three of us at once to take him" he said easily, slipping his hand into his pocket. Spectra glared at the trio angrily, "So you asked me to throw one of my pokemon in to a fight it couldn't win?" she snapped; Jericho seemed to be taken aback by her ire.

"Well, like I said, Zashi is a master. He knows when to stop" he said, frowning at the fuming girl in front of him. She shook her head, her long silky hair casting waves down her back. "Whatever. So am I in or not?" she said snippily, half turning away.

Jericho narrowed his eyes at her, focusing on her with a sharp gaze. "While you are under my command, you will not use such a tone to address me. Is that clear?" He suddenly seemed to radiate a sense of power and authority, unquestionable and dark; Spectra had clearly crossed some invisible line with the infamous leader of Black Lotus. Nevertheless, she met his gaze head on and held his glare for as long as she dared before answering,

"Of course, Jericho. It won't happen again" she said, steel in her voice. Jericho held her gaze a second longer before he relaxed again; it was only then that Spectra realized how he had seemed to grow in stature with his cold anger. She would have to be careful around him. As she pondered this, Jericho had pulled his hand out of his pocket clutching a small chain with an oddly shaped pendant on it. Of course, Spectra knew what it was, she had created forged copies of it often enough.

The Lotus pendant, the single item that could cause more fear than anything else on the planet...in the right circles. And that was the point, to mean something to the types of people who would want to hire Black Lotus but nothing to anybody else. And as Jericho handed it to Spectra with a silent nod of approval, she was able to see just how poor her forgeries had been. The chain was solid silver, thin yet strong, with fine links that caught the light in the most fascinating of ways. The pendant part was in the shape of a blooming Lotus flower, carved exquisitely to show all the fine details, the whole thing dyed the purest black; there was no way to copy this without years of training.

She quickly hooked the pendant around her neck, as if by waiting it would disappear before her eyes, and looked up, suddenly shy in the presence of her new comrades. Jericho, Astreya, Zashi. They all looked upon her with a mild sense of pride and camaraderie. Jericho looked upon her and spoke.

"Welcome to Black Lotus."


	2. Blackout

**Origins: Black Lotus**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Blackout<strong>

_Pandabot: Alright, so in response to my lovely anonymous reviewer, I don't really know what you are asking. If you're asking about this fic then, well here it is. If you were asking about Soul of Steel, then I actually have no idea when there will be an update because I'm not writing the next chapter._

_Anyway, here is the second chapter of my mini-series which will lead into a huge, sexy epic detailing what happened before Soul of Steel. Some awesome hints of things to come in here. So please read and if you have an opinion, idea, comment, cake recipe or anything else to share please do._

_Thanks to Peppy for the quick glance through. Stella as always my friend_

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><p><em>"Welcome to Black Lotus"<em>

Spectra sat, cross legged, in the centre of a dark room, illuminated with an eerie soft blue light. She had been there for some time, thinking over the events of the last few days; days she had dedicated to proving her worth to the other members of Black Lotus.

_My new comrades_, she thought, unsure about what she thought about that. She had always been alone, never trusting another, looking out for herself before any other. Her memories swirled around in her head, threatening to overwhelm her; luckily her thoughts were interrupted as echoing footsteps rang through the silence.

"Spectra," a dark voice acknowledged, "And why, may I ask, are you sitting in the dark?" it continued dryly. Spectra didn't bother opening her eyes, she already knew who it was, and smiled lightly, "Well I _was_ practicing my stillness, but I guess I may as well finish up now." She quickly rolled backwards, pushing off the ground with her hands and flipping over onto her feet in one fluid motion; Jericho raised an eyebrow at her energy.

"You were _practicing_? Your _stillness_?" he asked, incredulous. Spectra turned and studied him, slightly annoyed. "It's not that easy you know" she said sharply. Jericho merely chuckled at her, turning away to boot up the computers set against the wall; their eerie green glow spread throughout the dark room. Spectra merely glared at the back of his head; first he interrupted her training then he belittled it?

Her aggressive scrutiny was interrupted again by the sound of a cheerful voice chattering away happily; Jericho was scrutinising the computer screen closely. Shaking her head in annoyance, Spectra stretched lithely; sitting still for that long always left her feeling a little knotted in her back. It was a little unfortunate (or was that fortunate?) that Astreya and Zashi entered the room at that moment, both getting an eyeful of Spectra in tight clothing, leaning backwards slightly; Astreya practically began drooling at the sight and even Zashi seemed taken aback by the sight.

Taking notice of the sudden silence, Spectra suddenly became aware of Astreya and Zashi's dumbstruck (and in Astreya's case, outright lustful) looks; smiling self-conciously she stopped her stretch and gave a small, awkward wave at the two mercenaries. An awkward silence ensued, one so awful that even Jericho, absorbed as he was, could not ignore it. He turned, confused at the sudden heavy silence,

"...Why is Astreya not talking?" Spectra giggled self-consciously, awkwardly rubbing her arm; in a odd way, Jericho's blunt statement was actually pretty funny. Finally, the horrible silence broken, Zashi and Astreya entered the room; Zashi steadfastedly refusing to look at Spectra, Astreya...well, she seemed unaffected. Jericho, still confused at the awkward silence, took another look around at the team before shaking his head and turning back to his computer.

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><p><em>Dammit. Why can't I get a single moment of privacy in this place?<em>

Really it shouldn't be a problem, Black Lotus HQ was a decent sized place. It was built underground, sprawling outward from its hidden entrance; surely Spectra could get the feel of the place without constant interruptions. At least it was Zashi who was intruding this time, he seemed to spend most of his time in his own world so he was hardly likely to bother her; which, right now, was extremely important. Balancing on a twelve foot pole the size of a coin is harder than it looks.

The stand holding the pole upright creaked ominously as Spectra wobbled minutely atop the pole. As unobtrusive as Zashi's presence was, it still threw her concentration off enough to upset her balance. She had just got herself fully balanced again when Zashi began his workout, thumping his fists into the punching bag on the opposite side of the room. Spectra jumped at the sudden sound, causing the stand holding the pole to splinter.

Spectra sighed, calmly riding the pole as it collapsed, falling towards the ground at high speed. At the last second, she backflipped off the pole, smoothly landing on her feet; _well that was annoying_. The punching sound continued unabated by the clanging of the pole hitting the ground, echoing throughout the stark gym.

She had to admit that the gym was pretty well out-fitted, even if it was just the four of them in the headquarters. Along with the usual gym equipment was a series of bars and poles, clearly made to improve balance and flexibility; it was just a pity that everything was so grey.

'_Zashi, Astreya, Spectra. Get to the briefing room, we have a mission_'. Jericho's voice came from nowhere, echoing around the solid walls of the gym. _Well I guess my training's over_ Spectra thought, sighing heavily. She didn't notice Zashi approaching her, pulling his heavy coat over his shirt,

"Come. I will show you the way" he rumbled.

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><p>Zashi and Spectra walked into a circular room with a large screen set into the wall; Astreya and Jericho were already seated around the circular table, waiting patiently (at least, Jericho was).<p>

"Good. We're all here then" Jericho said, reaching forward and pulling the holoscreen towards him. As Zashi and Spectra sat at their assigned places, Jericho tapped the holoscreen and the screen on the wall fired up, displaying the image of a large factory belching out black smoke from the twin smoke stacks atop the structure.

"This is the main factory of Sitzer Corp. We have been hired by an anonymous group to shut it down or, at the very least, stop production for a couple of weeks. Well, I say anonymous but it's pretty obvious that it's Silph Co; Sitzer Corp are their only major competition in tech advancements. So, essentially we have been hired by Silph Co to stop production in the main Sitzer Corp plant. This particular factory makes all the prototypes for their company so it's kind of a big deal." He tapped the holoscreen and the screen changed into a birds-eye view of the basic floor layout.

"I know it isn't much to go on but this is the information we were given by our 'anonymous' employers, so this is all we have to work with." He tapped the holo-screen again, bringing up a night shot of the outside of the factory; the group could clearly see the heavy guard contingent. "This is definitely not one of our usual hits. This place has plenty of guards and personnel, we can't just waltz in with the element of surprise and take them all out. There's just too many." He stopped speaking and looked over at Spectra.

"This sort of thing is exactly why we asked Spectra to join. We need a bit of subterfuge here, someone who can get inside without anyone seeing them and cause a bit of havoc. Any ideas Spectra?" Spectra stared at the picture intently and frowned slightly.

"Show me the inside again" she said. With a nod and a rapid tap, the basic floor plan came back on the screen allowing another look inside. Spectra frowned in concentration, eyes tracing along the various possible routes to her destination.

"Is this set up like other Sitzer Corp buildings? With the grated ventilators and the oversized construction lines?" she asked with an off-putting casualness. Jericho just looked at her.

"I assume you've hit one of them before?" he asked calmly, admittedly a little curious at her past work. Spectra smirked confidently, "Oh I might have. Once or twice. Or seventeen times".

Zashi and Astreya glanced at each other, expressionless, as Jericho raised an eyebrow, "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"In answer to your question, Spectra, we don't know for sure. But it'd be a pretty safe bet that it would be. Corporations tend to be...predictable like that" he said with a smirk; Zashi and Astreya shared a chuckle at his words.

Zashi spoke up, "So you can get inside. Then what?"

Jericho smiled, reminding all gathered of a circling shark, "Oh, I think I have an idea".

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><p>"So Steve, how's the wife?"<p>

Two burly guards, dressed in the non-descript grey uniforms of Sitzer Corp, were lounging against some empty crates stacked against the side of the large factory' garage door. Boredom had set in once again, it was always an unlikely prospect that somebody would actually attempt anything on one of the biggest factories in the country, but they were being paid and that was enough.

"She's good, Mark. Thanks for your concern" the second man answered sarcastically. Unperturbed, the other man continued.

"You know how hot she is right? Like, movie star hot. She's sitting comfortably in the Top 5 Hottest Girls I've Ever Seen. That's how hot she is, man." he rambled, causing to Steve to roll his eyes; would he ever get bored of the same conversation?

"Yes, Mark, I am aware of how hot she is. It might have crossed my mind at some point; probably when I married her or something" Steve said, sarcasm pouring off his tone like a waterfall of annoyance. After a moments silence, during which Steve prayed he had finally silenced the idiot, Mark spoke again; this time his voice was all business.

"Hey, what's going on?" Another guard had come sprinting up to them desperately, slipping slightly on the wet ground, and stopped panting in front of them. Up close Steve and Mark recognised Tara, the guard Mark had asked out a total of fourteen times; apparently 'she was a Top Ten for sure.'

"There's something going on in Sector 4B, by the tree line. Grady wants you two to head out and take a look and I'll cover your post 'til you get back" she said once she had recovered her breath. The two looked at each other in surprise, some action at last?

"Roger. We'll head there now. Too damn cold to just be sitting around" Steve said gruffly. Tara raised her eyebrows in agreement and settled comfortably against the crates,

"You're telling me. Would it kill them to light a few fires? Or, you know, give us decent coats?" she grumbled, giving a tiny shiver. The two men laughed and then began trudging off in the direction Tara had appeared from. Just before they left earshot, Mark turned back,

"Hey Tara!" Not even waiting for Mark to finish, Tara cut in,

"No Mark!" The pair chuckled and finally left.

Tara stood alone, leaning on the pile of crates next to the garage. After around five minutes, she stood upright and looked around surreptitiously; she was definitely alone. _Excellent._

"Alright, Ditto. Time to go" she whispered, her voice almost inaudible in the cold night air. Her face glowed a muted multicoloured madness for a split second, before a pink blob slid off, revealing Spectra stood comfortably in the Sitzer Corp uniform, a pink blob sitting on her shoulder; it cooed as she gave it a gentle pat.

She slid a hand into her pocket and pulled out a walkie talkie, depressing the speech button temporarily.

"They're heading up now. Two minutes" she said. She heard two short bursts of static come through the receiver, Jericho's signal of conformation, and quickly slipped into the shadows next to the looming building. She quickly slipped out of the grey Sitzer uniform, revealing her standard stealth outfit, her outlines blurring into the shadows. She silently slipped over to the huge garage door and swiped the key card she stole from Tara, the poor unconscious girl who now lay tied up in the woods, under Zashi's supervision; they couldn't trust Astreya with her, after all.

The garage door slid up, opening surprisingly quietly for such a big door, revealing the interior of a large garage, inside there were four large vehicles, designed to carry ten people each; in case of emergency. Other than that, the area was empty; Spectra smiled, _Just as I thought. You'd think they'd have learned by now_ she thought smugly.

Spectra glided across the concrete floor silently, quickly sliding under the first vehicle she came to. In her head she was silently counting.

* * *

><p>"They're heading up now. Two minutes"<p>

Jericho smiled, quickly tapping the speech button on his walkie talkie twice, the pre-arranged signal of conformation, before turning to Astreya; she was drawing lines in the dirt with her finger.

"Go tell Zashi that we're ready to go" he said, drawing her attention. She silently slipped away, serious as she always was on a mission; it always made such an odd contrast. Jericho crouched, watching as two flashlights came wobbling up the hill towards where the trio were hiding. A rustling alerted him to Zashi and Astreya's approach,

"Alright. Let's get this done shall we?" he said, grinning darkly at the assembled pair.

* * *

><p>"Stupid fucking thing! Why won't you die!" Spectra hissed, straining to cut through the fuel line of the massive vehicle she was currently lying under. Finally, with a rather unattractive grunt, she managed to cut the line, leaving the fuel to leak out onto the concreted floor; she barely rolled out of the way as it poured over the ground.<p>

She glared at her knife for a second, annoyed at how blunt it had become through years of use; she really should have sharpened this thing a while ago. Sighing heavily, she clambered to her feet smoothly and looked around; there were pools of black liquid under three of the four vehicles. Satisfied at her job she jumped up onto an air conditioning unit that was placed directly under a grated ventilation shaft; looks like her guess was correct. She set herself to work taking the grate off the ventilation shaft.

* * *

><p>Jericho and Zashi ghosted down towards the factory, circling around so that they approached the garage; Astreya slipped down behind them, using them as cover. They reached the garage, discovering the bundled up uniform, right where Spectra had said she would leave it; Astreya quickly slipped into the uniform as Jericho and Zashi stalked cautiously into the garage.<p>

Spectra was crouched readily, knife in hand, on the air conditioning unit; the ventilation grate lay on the floor below her. When she recognised the members of Black Lotus she relaxed, dropping off the air conditioning unit and padding across the garage to the group.

"Ok. So we're ready to go?" she asked, looking quickly at her watch; _Right on time,_ she thought. The group silently nodded at her, this was basically Spectra's mission after all; Jericho was happy to bow to her experience on this one. Spectra gave a short nod to the group and glided back over to the air conditioning unit; she perched on top staring up the ventilation shaft.

"Please try and be subtle" she said, almost sighed, before suddenly disappearing up the shaft. Jericho glanced around at the giant Zashi and the fidgeting Astreya, "Alright then, let's get moving. Remember, move fast and keep quiet. We don't want them knowing about us until it's too late" he said commandingly.

The group slipped out of the room, the huge Zashi moving surprisingly smoothly leaving the empty, echoing garage; leaving only the growing pools of fluid under the vehicles witness to the silence.

* * *

><p>Spectra pulled herself along the ventilation shaft, in slight discomfort due to the small space, trying to be as silent as possible. Not exactly the easiest task but one she knew she could pull off, she had done it multiple times before. She slid over a grate and stared down into the main factory area, awed as always by the sheer size of the place; she considered the map she had memorised before they left.<p>

If her memory served her correctly then it shouldn't be far now to the main generator room, the same one that, unless she missed her guess, would be protected by advanced security. And that's where Jericho and the others came in. Normally she would've had to do everything herself but this time, with the rest of Black Lotus she could focus on the end objective; something that made the entire job easier...and so much harder.

Could she trust them? Not only to do the job right but also to not betray her; that's all she had ever really known in her life, was it going to change? Of course, she knew of Black Lotus' fierce reputation, most people in her line of business had heard of them. She had even heard a few things about Jericho, most notably his loyalty to his chosen team; but could that make him trustworthy? Her instincts said yes but it was so hard to blindly trust another after so long; she had to force herself to keep heading to the objective.

As she had been thinking she had covered plenty of ground, now stopping over a grid that looked down upon the main generator. Now all she had to do was wait...and think.

* * *

><p>The dart thunked into the remaining guards neck, he let out a small gurgle as he slid to the floor, hand clenched over his neck. Astreya twirled the small blowpipe around her fingers playfully as she strutted around the corner, humming a triumphant tune; her eyes glanced over the three unconscious guards strewn along the corridor. As she silently gloated at a job well done, Jericho and Zashi strode past her; they, as always, were all business on the job.<p>

They quickly took possession of the swipe cards attached to the guards' belts, letting themselves into the room next to the unconscious guards. In the room, Jericho and Zashi quickly set themselves to work at the computers, tapping rapidly away at the keyboards lit by the soft green glow of the screens. As they worked, Astreya wandered in, continuing to hum her little ditty; she spun a knife smoothly on her palm as she walked.

She looked around the room calmly, bouncing on her toes as the pair of males worked away at the computer terminals; finally she was interrupted as Zashi gave a grunt,

"Done" he said gruffly. At his word, Jericho nodded, "Same here. Let's move it back to the bay". He stood straight up, slipping his walkie talkie out of his pocket as he did so,

"Spectra? We're clear. Lights out when you call".

* * *

><p>"Spectra? We're clear. Lights out when you call".<p>

Spectra, bored out of her mind and still stewing over her trust issues, almost jumped out of her skin when the voice suddenly came through the walkie talkie, echoing along the ventilation shaft. _Shit!_ she thought, panicking as the sound of quiet talking suddenly stopped below her. She quickly depressed the speech button on the communicator, effectively silencing it before any more noise could give her away.

She stayed frozen as the voices slowly started up again, waiting for a reasonable amount of time until she finally spoke,

"Do. Not. Talk. Lights out in ten seconds" she hissed quietly.

* * *

><p>Jericho almost paled at the unrestrained fury in Spectra's hissed voice; he had forgotten that he was meant to be on radio silence. Nevertheless he slipped his wireless remote out of his pocket, counting down the seconds in his head as Zashi and Astreya scouted ahead.<p>

_Two. One._

* * *

><p><em>Three.<em> Spectra dropped a pokeball through the grating, no need for commands; she trusted that Charmeleon would know what to do.

_Two._ She positioned herself over the unscrewed grate, balancing on either side of the square grating.

_One._ The pokeball hit the floor, breaking open in a flash of light as Spectra quickly snapped her feet together, dropping down; the grate snapped off in the process, falling straight towards one of the six guards below her.

As Charmeleon materialised, the lights suddenly shut off, leaving his tail as the only source of light in the room. The disorientated guards spun around in surprise at the sudden darkness, at the same time Spectra dropped down into the room landing smoothly in front of her Charmeleon.

Her Charmeleon knew what was needed, letting out massive amounts of smoke; the guards coughed and choked as the smoke spread rapidly throughout the room. Spectra held her breath as she heard the guards drop to the floor one-by-one. Once the last one dropped she reached back and tapped Charmeleon on the leg; he blew out warm air, dispersing the smoke enough that Spectra could breathe.

She turned to the massive generator, studying the outer panel for her target...which wasn't there. _Oh, hell. Now what?_

* * *

><p>Jericho slipped into the garage, shutting the door as he did so; he quickly took his place over by the shaft, listening for Spectra's approach. They couldn't afford to start the vehicle too early, it would draw all the guards to the garage; likewise they couldn't hang around forever without getting surrounded.<p>

Spectra said it wouldn't take her long to get in and out; but how long was that?

* * *

><p>"Dammit!" Spectra swore, glaring up at the massive generator as if it had personally insulted her. She growled in annoyance,<p>

"Fine. No time for subtlety I guess" she sighed, glancing back at her loyal Charmeleon. As usual he understood exactly what she wanted almost instinctively, slinking forward and studying the generator quickly.

"Do it" Spectra said softly, stepping back to give herself some room; Charmeleon nodded and snapped its jaws open throwing a massive Flamethrower at the generator. As the generator slowly began to melt, throwing sparks around in a frenzy, Charmeleon pushed itself harder, the flame on it's tail raging into an inferno as Charmeleon pushed it's limits further than he had ever had to push them before.

Finally the generator's outer shell blew apart as the Flamethrower burnt through to the inner core; Charmeleon instantly stopped its attack, falling tiredly backwards to rest on his tail.

Spectra rested a comforting hand on his head as he panted, "Great work buddy. I need one more effort, okay?" Her Charmeleon nodded tiredly at her request, getting to his feet and stumbling over to his position under Spectra's entrance point. Spectra followed, scooping up Charmeleon's pokeball as she went,

"Okay. Seismic Toss" she said, her tone apologetic as she looked at her exhausted pokemon. Charmeleon grasped her, gaining a firm hold on her waist before, with considerable effort, launching her upward to the ventilation shaft; she might have banged her head as she flew into the shaft but she had other things on her mind. She quickly recalled Charmeleon before crawling as fast as she could along the shaft; she had to get back quickly.

* * *

><p>The lone guard gave a short cry as Zashi pounced slamming him into the ground hard enough to knock him out. He looked over at Jericho,<p>

"Where is she? We have to leave soon" he growled, dragging the unconscious guard over to the pair he had already dealt with. Jericho listened closely, still unable to hear anything, and shook his head,

"Not here yet. You know the rules Zashi, the team sticks together" he said, a hint of threatening command in his tone. Zashi merely glared, blank faced, at his ridiculous notions of loyalty before checking the guards again. Suddenly a skittering sound was heard, coming from the shaft where Jericho stood guard.

Before anyone could react, Spectra dropped from the shaft, landing lithely on the air conditioning unit; without a hint of hesitation the group quickly entered the only remaining vehicle that still worked, Jericho behind the wheel. He grinned as he started the engine, slamming the huge car into gear and jamming his foot onto the accelerator; Zashi merely sat back in the passenger seat and folded his arms as the vehicle tore through the garage door like paper.

Spectra relaxed in the back, noting with some surprise that Astreya appeared to be asleep, her head leant against the window and mouth slightly open. Jericho guided the car easily out of the compound at high speed; the entire complex was still panicked after the collapse of all power within the factory so they met no resistance as the huge car sped out, heading towards the forest.

* * *

><p>Zashi slung the incredibly still asleep Astreya over his shoulder as Jericho pulled the car into the conveniently empty garage back at Black Lotus HQ. Spectra slipped out of the back at the same time, stretching like a cat as she did so; it really had been a hell of a night. Zashi had already marched off with Astreya so Spectra took the opportunity, when Jericho was distracted with checking for pursuit, to slip away, heading towards the spa kept next her room, a most convenient placing that she intended to make full use of.<p>

She glided silently throughout the corridors, more from force of habit than anything else, heading towards her spa. As she reached the room, Zashi appeared almost out of thin air behind her,

"We will meet tomorrow morning at ten thirty. Do not be late" he said gruffly, emotionless as ever. Spectra merely nodded as she opened the door and slipped inside, locking the door behind her; yet another habit, though probably an intelligent one.

Zashi stood outside the door for a second, a tiny frown crossing his features; he looked down at his hand as he pulled it out of his pocket, clutching a thin silver chain,

_Krise._ He grunted, turning on his heel, and stalked away, shoulders set in a tense line

* * *

><p>Spectra released Charmeleon into the room as she turned the jets on to a slow bubble in the spa; he blinked as he looked around the room, his nostrils flared as he smelled the scent of the room. Spectra began to slowly remove her skin tight stealth suit, wriggling out of the fitted garment; used to the sight, Charmeleon climbed cautiously into the spa, ensuring to keep his tail out of the water.<p>

As she finally wriggled out of her clothes she slipped smoothly into the water, moving over to her relaxing Charmeleon; he deserved this treat after his efforts today. She settled next to him and rested her head on his shoulder,

"You were amazing today, you know that?" she said softly, her voice barely heard over the bubbling of the spa. Charmeleon made a low humming noise in response to her statement; Spectra smiled, typical modest Charmeleon.

The pair sat comfortably together, relaxing after their mission and trying to keep their eyes open.

* * *

><p>Jericho padded through the empty corridors, he figured that everyone would have gone to bed by now. He wandered with purpose, heading away from his room, stopping before the room he visited when he needed to release some stress.<p>

He knocked, hearing rustling on the other side as he waited patiently. Suddenly the door slid open, revealing a woman dressed in a bathrobe staring at him. Astreya smiled,

"I had a feeling you'd come by" she said cheekily. Jericho merely smirked, following her inside as the door slid shut.

* * *

><p><strong>Editors Note: <strong>_**Hooohhhhhhh the Charmeleon!**_

_Pandabot: Contrary to what the editor says (Bad Peppy!), Spectra and her Charmeleon are not intended to be romantically or sexually linked in any way; however if you really like that pairing than feel free to imagine whatever you wish. This chapter is a pretty big one; the longest I've ever written I think and there's plenty there to whet the appetite. So let me know what you think (especially about Jericho and Astreya!)_

_Love_


	3. Bandages

**Origins: Black Lotus**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Bandages<strong>

_Pandabot: Alright so, considering I'm on a bit of a writing binge at the moment, I thought I'd finally update this fic for anyone who's actually reading it. Just a bit of a filler chapter here, with a hell of an insight into Astreya and Jericho's past, and their particular brand of relationship. So read and review and look forward to a few revelations about Zashi and Spectra next chapter_

* * *

><p>Jericho awoke with a start, rustling the already dishevelled sheets as he sat up abruptly; the chill air impacted his chest as the sheets slid down his body. He slowly settled back into the bed, aware of the incredibly warm body with it's ruffled black hair that already occupied the space.<p>

He glanced over at the digital clock, placed on the nightstand next to the bed, suprised to find that it was only 6 o'clock in the morning; nights with his insatiable companion usually had him sleeping until 9 at the latest. At that moment, said insatiable companion rolled over in her sleep, draping her naked form over his with an odd whine. Jericho stared at the top of her dishevelled head with some concern, he thought he knew what she was dreaming about and he was worried; it had been a while since she had dreamed about it.

Jericho relaxed under Astreya, this was why they started this anyway; to give each other comfort when the other needed it...and, of course, it was hardly something to complain about. He felt his eyes begin to close again as he relaxed under Astreya's warm body; maybe he could get a nap in before the debriefing at ten thirty.

* * *

><p><em>Thump. Thump. Thump.<em>

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Sweat poured from Zashi's face as he laid into the punching bag, angry fists setting the heavy bag in motion. He growled as he swung a fist heavily at the bag one last time before he paused, panting at his exertion. The bag swung gently in the aftermath of his attack, the slight creaking the only sound in the bare gym; Zashi glared at the bag.

He glanced across at his shirt, folded neatly on the floor; on top lay a fine silver chain, coiled just as neatly. His eyes narrowed at the sight and, with an angry growl, he spun around and started laying into the punching bag again with fury, a snarl marring his features.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

* * *

><p>Spectra sat alone in the briefing room, waiting for the others to arrive; sure she was early but waiting had never really bothered her. It came with the territory of being a professional thief; the rash ones always got caught. After the spa last night, she had felt remarkably refreshed, especially with the comforting warmth of her faithful Charmeleon.<p>

She began to consider her trust issues once again, given what she had been through it was hard to blame her. Now she was caught between her instincts, incessantly telling her that the members of Black Lotus could be trusted, and her brain, constantly running through her memory. She dropped her head into her hands, sighing heavily at her inner turmoil; why was it always so hard?

Luckily, before she could get too lost in her thoughts, she was interrupted by Jericho and Astreya entering the briefing room. Or, perhaps more accurately, Jericho walked in and Astreya flounced in, looking particularly pleased with herself. They sat down in their usual seats, Astreya humming cheerily; Jericho began tapping away busily at the keyboard as usual.

Zashi wandered in, seeming distracted, as Jericho pulled up the interior plans of the Sitzer Corp factory. He fell into his seat heavily and glared at the computer screen; Jericho glanced around the room, noting Zashi's distraction, Spectra's sharp attention and Astreya's typical cheer. He frowned imperceptably at Zashi before speaking,

"Alright. Another successful mission, guys. So...comments?". There was a short silence after his words as each member considered their experience yesterday.

"You almost got me killed," Spectra said, far more calm than she was yesterday, "You were meant to be radio silent". Jericho nodded, an apologetic look on his face,

"Yeah. That was entirely my fault; it won't happen again. That's a promise," he said seriously, "But we aren't used to that kind of work". Spectra nodded, accepting his apology.

"I have a question," Astreya spoke, sounding almost serious for once, "Why didn't we just kill the guards we came across?" she asked. Jericho studied her for a second, frowning thoughtfully,

"Do you think they deserved it?" he asked, "They probably have families, and they work for Sitzer Corp as a job to get by. We can't just go around killing everybody who gets in our way" he said, raising an eyebrow; for all his noble sentiments he seemed remarkably unconcerned with the thought of killing innocent people.

Astreya pouted, "That's boring" she said, sighing heavily directly afterward as she dropped her head onto the table. Jericho smiled, amused at her typically ruthless attitude; his eyes slid away from Astreya, coming to rest on the white bandages tied over Zashi's formidable knuckles. Jericho's smile froze in place for a split second as he glanced up at Zashi's distracted features, he quickly turned away,

"Anything else?" he said impassively, already thinking ahead. Spectra stood abruptly, seemingly ready to leave,

"Yeah, my Charmeleon needs a few days rest, he overworked pretty badly yesterday. So, you know, just leave him alone for a couple of days." she said, eyes asking a question as she stared at Jericho. He nodded to her and she left without another word, presumably to care for her Charmeleon; Zashi stood a few seconds later and turned, ready to leave. Quickly, Jericho lifted his hand,

"Hang on a second, Zashi. I want to talk to you" he said commandingly, throwing Astreya a look that clearly said: _Alone_. Astreya rolled her eyes, standing up and flouncing out of the room; she stopped at the door and tipped Jericho a flirtatious wink before disappearing out of sight. The room remained silent as Zashi stared at the table, finally Jericho broke it,

"What happened to your hands?" he asked, eyes narrowed; he could quite easily guess the answer to that question. Zashi merely looked at him balefully, a clear indicator that Jericho should just get right to the point;

"Ok. Better question. Why?" he said, calm as ever. Zashi growled at him, muttering something inaudible as he stood, once again attempting to leave;

"Sit down, Zashi" a commanding voice caused him to whirl around angrily, facing the now standing leader; the air in the room suddenly seemed to drop in temperature as the pair locked eyes.

"Well?" Jericho demanded, staring up at the significantly larger man without a trace of fear in his eyes. Zashi glared at him for a second before folding, shoving a hand into his jacket pocket and drawing out a silver chain,

"You know what today is, don't you?" he rumbled angrily, thrusting the chain in Jericho's face. Jericho nodded cautiously, subconciously shifting into a defensive stance, "It's the day she died" he said slowly.

Zashi's face twisted in fury for a second before he got his emotions back under control; there was a beat of silence, "She looks like her" he said quietly. Jericho looked at him, confused for a second,

"Who does?" he asked. Zashi gave him a sharp look and then turned away, walking slowly to the door, "Spectra" he said, disappearing out of the door, leaving Jericho staring at the exit.

_Shit. This could cause some serious problem,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

><p><em>Th-Th-Thunk<em>.

The brisk sound of knives impacting solidly into wood echoed down the empty corridor, answered by the footsteps approaching the gymnasium. Jericho waited until he heard the knives strike their target again before he pushed the door open, standing the doorway as he watched Astreya trudge to the target set against the wall.

He stayed silent as she tugged her small throwing knives out of the wood and, taking her place again, threw again, launching all three with uncannily quick, precise strikes. He held his silence ass she stared straight through the target,

"I dreamed about it again" she said simply, an uncharacteristic frown marring her childlike features. Now Jericho moved, crossing the threshold and closing the door with a snap;

"Yeah, I guessed" he said neutrally. Astreya walked over to her knives and rested a hand delicately on the handle of one; Jericho watched her intently as her head dropped, black hair sweeping down to shield her face from view.

"They're worse than I remember" she said quietly, her vulnerable tone so remeniscent of the day Jericho met her. The mere memory of that night was enough to send a surge of hot anger through his body, the night he killed for the first time.

_He had been wandering through the dark forest, confused by his own freedom, when he heard the muffled sounds of a body moving through the brush, accompanied by a weak whimper. His curiousity overriding his natural survival instincts, he crept towards the sound, keeping a steadying hand on the stolen knife strapped to his belt._

_He peered through the grasping branches of a low-lying bush, eyes widening at the shocking sight in the small clearing just a head. Crumpled on the ground lay a dark-haired girl, covered in bruises, wearing a simple grey shift smeared with dirt; her right thigh bled profusely from a large gash. He half-stood, intending to go and help the poor girl, before he suddenly ducked back down as a rough voice rang around the clearing._

_"There you are, bitch". Jericho watched as the girl twisted around frantically, facing a heavily-built man with a brutish face; he leered at her horribly. With utter confidence, he drew a thick baton from a sheath hung around his waist and strode towards the exhausted girl, grinning at the look of abject terror on her face._

_Jericho felt a surge of fiery anger at the thug's cruelty, finding his body lauching forward of it's own accord, drawing the knife without concious thought. As the man raised the baton , he caught the flicker of motion out of the corner of his eye, turning a second too late._

_Jericho, mouth set in a grim line, plunged the knife into the brute's throat, tearing it sideways in the same motion; a spray of warm, salty blood hit Jericho in the face as his momentum sent him crashing into the man._

_Jericho stumbled as the man fell, clutching uselessly at his throat with nerveless fingers, gurgling horribly. He dropped the bloodstained knife into the dirt as he stared, horrorstruck, at the writhing man on the ground. As the thrashing stopped, Jericho turned and vomited, stumbling away from the body._

_He heard a terrified whimper from behind him, snapping his focus back to the pressing issue at hand; time to get the poor girl out of here._

Jericho came back to himself, suprised to find himself sitting next to Astreya on the floor, back to the wall. He relaxed against the wall, draping a casual arm across Astreya's shoulders as she moped over her memories of her time in the asylum; finally she broke the silence,

"You know, this is the first time that we've sat like this without fucking each other senseless" she said suggestively. Jericho laughed uproariously at her blunt comment, drawing a short giggle from her as well, "Maybe another time, Astreya" he choked out through his laughter.


End file.
